Scan barcode
A review by ruth24
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. (As an aside, Simon & Schuster Canada honestly have the best Own Voices YA books - I can always trust that their offerings are going to be amazing!) Okay, on to my review...
WOW. Wow. Wow. I hope you’re ready for me to gush about this book, because Legendborn was everything! Not only was it a thrilling fantasy story with a secret society, demon battles and an oh-so-adorable romance, it was also a powerful and moving story about grief and how the lives of our ancestors affect us in the present day. I actually thought it was genius how Deonn took on these concepts and racism, colonization and Black Girl Magic, all within the context of an Arthurian Legend modern day retelling.
The Basic Plot: Deonn takes the legend of Arthur and the round table and turns it on its head, creating a modern day Order set at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (her alma mater) who use the power of their knightly blood lines to fight the Shadowborn (demons). She then explores what happens when Bree, a teenage Early College student, gets caught up in the goings on of the Order while on a mission to find out what happened to her mother who passed away only months before.
Bree was such a wonderful main character - my heart went out to her for her grief, but she’s strong and you know she's going to make it, even through these toughest of times. She isn’t afraid to stick up for herself and to take her rightful place, even when no one else seems to think she belongs.
My other favourite character was Sel. I’m getting major Rhysand (ACOTAR) vibes from him and I hope hope HOPE I'm on the right track with where I think things are going! I also loved that there was a non-binary character, Greer. This is my second book this year with a non-binary character and I’m loving the representation!
All this to say that I cannot recommend this book enough! Seriously you need to pre-order it right now! Even though I got an eARC of this book for free, I’m still going to buy a copy because a) it’s just that good and b) it’s a series! For this to be Deonn's debut novel is just incredible and I can't wait to read more of her work.
WOW. Wow. Wow. I hope you’re ready for me to gush about this book, because Legendborn was everything! Not only was it a thrilling fantasy story with a secret society, demon battles and an oh-so-adorable romance, it was also a powerful and moving story about grief and how the lives of our ancestors affect us in the present day. I actually thought it was genius how Deonn took on these concepts and racism, colonization and Black Girl Magic, all within the context of an Arthurian Legend modern day retelling.
The Basic Plot: Deonn takes the legend of Arthur and the round table and turns it on its head, creating a modern day Order set at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (her alma mater) who use the power of their knightly blood lines to fight the Shadowborn (demons). She then explores what happens when Bree, a teenage Early College student, gets caught up in the goings on of the Order while on a mission to find out what happened to her mother who passed away only months before.
Bree was such a wonderful main character - my heart went out to her for her grief, but she’s strong and you know she's going to make it, even through these toughest of times. She isn’t afraid to stick up for herself and to take her rightful place, even when no one else seems to think she belongs.
My other favourite character was Sel. I’m getting major Rhysand (ACOTAR) vibes from him and I hope hope HOPE I'm on the right track with where I think things are going! I also loved that there was a non-binary character, Greer. This is my second book this year with a non-binary character and I’m loving the representation!
All this to say that I cannot recommend this book enough! Seriously you need to pre-order it right now! Even though I got an eARC of this book for free, I’m still going to buy a copy because a) it’s just that good and b) it’s a series! For this to be Deonn's debut novel is just incredible and I can't wait to read more of her work.